plays a key role throhout our lives one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designedor men's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. this morning, we are asking just one question, what do you expect of the next four years? yes, it is time for another inauguration and nerdland is in d.c. to bring you all the great expectations. good morning, i'm melissa harris-perry in washington, d.c. in less than two hours, president obama will take the oath of office for his second term as president of the united states. shortly before noon, he will be

sworn in in the white house blue room by chief justice john roberts. msnbc will bring special live coverage of the moment. normally, for a reelected president, it is the time to begin thinking of a legacy. having to run for re-election, the president is free to pursue the agenda that will enshrine him. among america's greats were abe lincoln and thomas jefferson. for this u.s. president, the first african-american ever elected to the office, the historical legacy has already been written before he officially began his first term. four years ago, president barack obama welcomed the weight of that legacy casting himself as a blank canvas to project our lofty hopes for change and great expectations for the nation. the first item on his agenda, that bright legacy and suggested those hopes were well placed.

president obama tried and succeeded where previous democratic presidents tried and failed. he enacted legislation that provided universal health care for all americans. four years after the first inauguration our lofty hopes for what was possible have been dragged back down to earth by the cold hand of reality and a republican dominated house of representatives. this time around, our great expectations may feel like managed expectations. take a look at president obama's second term official portrait. does that look like the face of a man that's lost hope for the future? after losing congressional support for his agenda, president obama urged us to hang on to the high hopes of the 2011 state of the union address. >> we do big things. >> just yesterday, vice president joe biden reminded us that this administration can and will continue to think big.

>> i think we're on the cusp of doing great things. >> regardless of what he wanted to focus on in his first term back in 2009, the biggest challenge awaiting our new president was economy and free fall andig achievement for the auto industry and bringing the economy back from the brink. with unemployment where it was after republicans have the white house dragged out in debates like marginal interest rates and crises like the debt ceiling, we are left wondering, when it comes to the economy can the president do big things? washington post columnist ezra klein is an msnbc policy analyst and editor for "the washington post." hi, e.j. and rezra. nice to be in d.c. and be with you guys.

are there big things left to do on the economy or are we twin kerring with the tax code? >> we are going to be blinding out a series of big things. this is going to be the tough thing about it. in the first term, what you have is big things that eventually over a long period of time happen at once. president obama sat down, page and protection act into law and health care reform was done. when we look at deficit reduction, it's four or five deals, each one in endless, horrible slog through the d.c. marshes. in the second term the two things we are going to see, it does not look like we are going to see much more on jobs. the white house is not fighting hard. they have not made infrastructure a condition of

moving forward. we got $600 billion in the fiscal cliff. republicans are going to make a decision to include revenues or whether or not they are going to make a decision that is better to do no more reduction over the second term. if it is what it takes to keep the president from getting more tax revenues. >> let me ask this. what i hear you saying is deficit reduction. it seems as though we have a president who is legitimately a deficit hawk. he believes the deficit is a problem and deficit reduction is a priority. when you look at the approval rate of americans on handling of the economy, it's split half and half with support for the president and 49% versus 48% disapproving. there's a little room to do a big thing. this president is a deficit hawk. >> i'm afraid ezra is right in describing what we are going to

be obsessed with. there are a lot of big things left. we had inequality rising in the country for three decades. poverty going up because of the recession. it's a big problem in the country. we had the flight of manufacturing jobs until recently. there's a bit of a turn around there. it seems to me president obama's biggest priority should not be the deficit. it should be restoring shared economic growth. yes, we need to do something about the long term deficit. i think the big argument is going to be between people who want to argue that the whole deal is deficit reduction. let's spend all our time putting on our green eye shades and talking these numbers. ezra will be excellent in describing what the numbers need. in fact, we could get a deficit on a decent course for a few years with about 1.5 trillion

deficit reduction then move on to other issues. you are going to talk about it later, obviously guns and immigration. can we restore shared growth? >> yeah. >> people at the bottom go up as well as people at the top. that was the core promise for the obama campaign. >> this is not a small thing. there is no guarantee. if we bring down the deficit, there's no guarantee the next president will be a democrat or to the left of center. we may want a deficit reduction to open up the funds to do. they may not get done. it's the story of the second clinton administration that gives way to bush. it doesn't create a shared rising of the boats. >> it was the great irony for the clinton deficit hawks who made huge deals and tough decisions to bring down the deficit. it gets sunk into huge cuts. i'm with e.j. and with you.

i don't think the deficit is the biggest priority. two, it's going better than people realize. we have done around 3.3 trillion if you include the sequester, which i would. growth has been slowing. if that continues, our long term budget picture is better. the question is, will there be space in washington to do big things that effect the economy? a lot of what would lead to the shared economic growth does not come necessarily in the policies we associate as economic policies. it's not all tax reform or spending. there's talk that the obama administration is making a push on early childhood administration. if you can do that in a big way is the single best investment we can make. obviously immigration reform is something on the table that gets talked about. immigrants are incredibly important to the economy. so, if you can do that, again,

it would be a huge boom to the economy. one of the questions, in terms of a better growth pattern, whether we can get out of the deficit conversation. one smart thing republicans have done here is enforcing it to be an endless series of self-endeuced crises. there's no other agenda. it sucks up all of washington. >> that's the problem with the three month extension. the republicans blinking and suggesting i want to fight this debt ceiling on this debt ceiling front, which would be good. they are going to keep us going every three months. we never get around to talking about the larger economic question. >> i don't want to have that conversation in the context of the three-month debt ceiling deals. if we are going talk entitlements, is there room to push on the entitlements and suggest a larger social safety net, things like providing opportunities for poor children beginning to close the wealth gap is a priority.

>> raise the health care law. i think it's very important to remember that law isn't fully operational, yet. there is -- yes, exactly. there's an enormous amount of work to do. there's a lot of resistance in the states. that's going to be a struggle. >> one piece of that is in 1997 we did a balanced budget deal. one thing that happened when that period of republicans and democrats came together was step back and as part of consolidating the budget, they shift resources. that was the deal. it was a deficit reduction deal. one thing it created was a children's health program. it's functioning today. it isn't the case of periods of deficit consolidation. it's not just cutting and grinding these things out. how to run a smarter government and run things into resources we need. they have to be willing to do it. >> i appreciate the notion of thinking big in the context of

the tough choices. thank you so much. e.j. is going to be back later as our client is heading out for the day. up next, our great expectations on national security. the promises kept and the promises still unfulfilled, when we get back. [ male announcer ] edmunds.com says the all-new nissan altima is a better car than camry. to argue would be rude. nissan altima. with moving-object detection. lease now. just $199 per month. visit choosenissan.com. road and track called sentra an economy car minus the look and feel of an economy car. wonder how civic and corolla look and feel about that. the all-new nissan sentra, with best-in-class mpg. lease for $169 per month. visit choosenissan.com.

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today, 200,000 u.s. troops, excuse me, today only 200 u.s. troops remain on the ground in iraq. they are all that remains of the 139,500 troops there in january

of 2009. ending the war in iraq was the fulfillment from the president's campaign. another accomplishment he never could have promised, but he delivered, the death of osama bin laden. these, along with the drawdown of u.s. forces are part of the president's legacy on counterterrorism. so, too, is this. drone strikes in pakistan that killed hundreds including civilians and children. indefinite detention and the ongoing operation of guantanamo bay. here with me is chris hayes and host of "up with chris hayes." >> this is a treat. >> you and me, sitting at the table. >> yeah. >> this is a piece of the president's overall strategy that you and i have had disagreements around.

i want to thinking fairly through. what have the accomplishments been and what do we need to be concerned about and bring pressure ongoing to the next four years? >> look, you said iraq in the interim. i think it's important. i said this on my show, it is important. by the time iraq ended, the nation was so disgusted, exhausted with the war there and i think had felt they had made this ratifying choice in 2008 of the president's vision of bringing the war to a close, it was an afterthought. we devoted the whole show to the last day troops were in iraq. this was history. it was defining. let's remember the grand irony is if president obama as a state senator doesn't get up and go on the record opposing the war on iraq, it's hard to imagine he wins that primary. that was the key to the fact that he then became president of the united states. >> with consensus of opinion in hyde park at that moment. >> exactly. what you would do as a state

senator from hyde park and i think he believed it. >> you had the conservatives, the realists who intellectually were saying this is the wrong war. it was on the one hand a safe position, but also once it became nationalized rather than just this moment, it was brave. >> that is good. the end of the war in iraq, the start treaty is like an a-15 type thing on the newspaper. it's incredibly important. nuclear weapons are massively destructive, dangerous things. we have way more than we need, ever, as does russia. over quite a bit of opposition extending political capital. >> and crumbling infrastructure. >> it's a big accomplishment. the record on afghanistan, you know, he ran on adding more troops to afghanistan. i don't think -- i think it's hard to say it's been successful. i think the metrics show it's not been successful, deaths have

gone up. that war is going to be brought to a close. finishing these things are harder than they look. the promise to drawdown is different than the realization of it. if he makes good on it, he will have ended two wars. we shouldn't slough that off. it's what we learned. ending wars are hard. when you end them, there's accommodation that is due. the biggest thing, i think, the biggest critique i have for this current administration is that it has embraced the framework of the war on terror, extended it and deepened it. what that means is, it is now a permanent architecture of the american security apparatus. that passed from a republican administration to a democratic administration and will continue forward. what i would love to see in these four years, j. johnson at

the pentagon gave a speech saying we need to think about when we bring the war on terror to a close. when is it over? >> it's never over. >> that is the problem. we had a person on the program who is the only one to vote against the use of military force. it's the document from which all authority flows. she is proposing we repeal that operation. we are out of afghanistan. osama bin laden is dead. al qaeda is the al qaeda that attacked us has been destroyed. >> if you do it and there's an attack on american soil then you are the president who ended the war on terror. this is a president of any ideology, of any party. >> 1,000% the problem. >> yeah. >> you are taking on tremendous political risk. the reason they endure is because part of the calculation is that. if you are the one -- this is true about guantanamo. if they had closed guantanamo and took the right position to close it. it's not closed because of

congressional opposition. if you close it and god forbid someone who is a guantanamo deta detainee, the political blowback would be insane. it's not like they are crazy. they are right. still, substantively, it's bad for the country. it's bad for the world. it's bad for our moral and strategic standing. the shroud of secret si that hangs over us. there's two layers to the debate. the substantive layer is good policy. before we get there, i want to know what the legal justification for it is and who we are killing and why. >> you know, what i appreciate is as we go into the second term, these are not easily solved problems and will not be completely addressed. as we have the discourse, we open up the black box where this is happening. thanks for hanging out with me, chris. up next, we are going switch to

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satisfaction guaranteed (announcer) at scottrade, our cexactly how they want.t with scottrade's online banking, i get one view of my bank and brokerage accounts with one login... to easily move my money when i need to. plus, when i call my local scottrade office, i can talk to someone who knows how i trade. because i don't trade like everybody. i trade like me. i'm with scottrade. (announcer) scottrade. awarded five-stars from smartmoney magazine. at a certain point i just concluded that, for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. >> that was the president last year putting his personal support behind the push for marriage equality. during president obama's tenure, there have been important

strides for lbgtq people. during the 17-yearlong don't ask don't tell military policy, he shed the act which was the first pro-lgbt law in history. disregard aspects of the marriage act. at the same time, calling for its repeal. while all these accomplishments have been important to many americans, there are many fundamental civil rights. today, there are 29 states where it is legal to fire someone based on sexual identity and 34 states it is legal to fire someone for being transgender. there are only 20 states, only 20, that have laws explicitly prohibiting housing discrimination against them. there is so much work to be done. with me is matthew green, editor

and chief of "the advocate." i love that cover. and the founding executive director of the national center for transgender equality. it's good to have you here. >> thank you. >> president obama spent much of the first two years undoing the clinton years. don't ask and don't tell. it was a part of the democratic move to the right. how do we say good job there and lay out a new agenda on the questions going forward? >> you know, excuse me, his statements on same-sex marriage have had global resonance. around the world, around the country, people have been galvanized in favor of recognizing the rights of lgbt americans. there are a few things we can look at that are specific to the presidency. there are a few broader things we want to look at in terms of

legislation and that sort of thing. something i'm looking at in addition to legislation. we don't know how the supreme court will rule, we are hopeful, but don't know for sure. there are a few things i would like to see, an lgbt cabinet member post. there are a few folks i think would be eligible for that. an issue that mara has been interested in as well, if you are same-sex married even in a state where it's legal and your partner is international, they could be deported. it could separate families. >> immigration reform, instead of making the assumptions, immigration has to have a broader, more inclusive definition that includes the different forms of family. >> it's right, but we do want our couples included. this is true. we also know that there are

zillions of dreamers who are lgbt. >> do we have a graphic for that, zillions? >> we want to make sure there's a pathway for all immigrants. >> i wonder about that. by taking it to the immigration question, part of what you have done is remind us of the intersection. for a lot of folks, what is interesting in watching the first african-american also become, you know, not gay in terms of self-identity but the first gay president for the push at the federal level. those are the intersections that have been most difficult to build in terms of coalition. >> yeah. i think that's right and i think we are all getting better at that. i think that progressive movement is looking at that more carefully and the lgbt xhupt is looking at it. certainly this administration

does. they have put their money where their mouth is. things like the president issued a memorandum instructing more engagement in foreign policy around lgbt people. this is having humongous impact. >> humongous impact. >> all over the world and real life saving important things. we need that engagement to continue. >> yeah. >> we need all the work that's going on around health care, which is so important to all americans. you know, the medicaid expansion thing that we talk about a lot in terms of other populations for transgender people it is hugely important. so many of us have been impover shed. >> many americans aren't aware of it. they understand we have a set of protections on if you are a woman, a set of protections on your religion. i don't think many people realize in this country, if you

are a transgender woman or a transgender man or gay or lesbian, you can lose your job in many states in this country. >> there's been legislation on it since 1974. it's been discussed in congress. we do not have this. it's something the president can put his weight behind and push for as well. there's something else i want to mention. california passed a law banning ex-gay therapy. it's being challenged, which is unfortunate, it would be nice to see a presidential endorsement. i think you could see expansion across the country. suicide and homelessness. a fourth of homeless people are lgbt. i think we could see movement on that as well. >> it's one of those things we realize the presidential bully pulpit is quite powerful and other times it feels not powerful at all. on this issue, he's moved the

ball repeatedly. thank you. up next, remember when some people thought electing barack obama meant america was post racial? yeah. not so much. when we come back. [ male announcer ] where do you turn for legal matters? maybe you want to incorporate a business. or protect your family with a will or living trust. and you'd like the help of an attorney. at legalzoom a legal plan attorney is available in most states with every personalized document to answer questions. get started at legalzoom.com today. and now you're protected.

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as the nation's first african-american president, barack obama's race has always been an implicit aspect of his administration. the president can -- for example, the affordable care act will have a positive effect for african-americans. his initiative on education excellence for african-americans enacted through executive order will go a long way for students

as will the funds for the settlement for african-american farmers discriminated against by the department of agriculture. still, the president has been subjective to criticism about his unwillingness to talk about race. back at the table is msnbc contributor and washington post columnest e.j. and joining us is joy reid who is managing editor of the grio.com. it's two things for the president on this. symbol and substance. the idea that he just sort of walks through the world navigating race is talking about race. for many folks, they want more. they want more talking on this topic. >> it's interesting. this has been a source of frustration for the administration. the part of the administration that talks to the media is pushing back saying no, no, no. look at the policy that is benefited african-americans. look at the affordable care act and how americans are looking at

it. look at the education policy and insisting there's a racial component that should be obvious to everyone and it isn't. there were a lot of african-americans, including some elected officials who publicly stated without the president actually using explicit racial terminology, he wasn't addressing black folk the way he was addressing the lgbt community. they hold that up and say no, no, he talks to them using the words and does policies just for them. a lot of black folk were like we want policies just for african-american because of the high unemployment and dispariti disparities. i think it is complicated to do that when you are a first black president. it's an awkward position to be in. >> the other thing that is surprising about the claim that the president doesn't talk about race. i can't think of another elected official who's made a speech on

race than his philadelphia speech. let's listen a bit to part of that philadelphia race speech and ask for your response to this. let's listen. >> this is where we are right now. it's a racial stalemate we have been suck in for years. contrary to my critics, black and white, i have never been so naive as to believe we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle or with a single candidate. >> right. he's like, race is big, people. i can't fix all this. right? >> you know what's odd is would we be having this conversation about a white president? did we ever say that white president didn't talk enough about race? it shows how complicated racism is. is it fair to the first black president of the united states to say he should be talking more about this? then you also look at it from the other side, which is, what is the lost opportunity here? you know, in a sense, people are

americans are, african-americans are asking more of him because they are saying he has a particular responsibility because of this role. he can do things in african-american communities, reach young african-americans in a way no other president can do. i hope he's less reluctant to go into african-american schools, into african-american neighborhoods and talk about the challenges. he can talk about these things as he has done in the past in a way that is unified. to talk about race is not divisive. a lot of times we think it is. >> it feels like it has been for this president. there were two moments when he weighed in. the skip gates moments where the police behaved stupidly. he used an adverb, which is dead in the american language. that ended awkwardly. and then the moment where he didn't talk about race but said trayvon martin, that if i had a

son, he would look like trayvon martin. suddenly, this thing that had been unified, killing a teenage boy became racialized. the line the president is walking feels more of a tight rope than say bubba, who president clinton was able to perform race as a white man that could be unifying. there wasn't a sense he was attached to it. everything he did, clinton about race, the welfare reform bill. people overlook a lot of things troubling. the other piece of this, melissa, this president, everything he did turned out to be about race. this is the first president that had to confront questions about his birthplace, confront witch doctor signs, people saying he was a black hitler. now the butcher of benghazi on the right. the over-the-top reaction to him that most people looked at as

having a racial component. when he was elected, the right had two choices. they can react as a typical president or go absolutely insane. they chose the latter. it made african-americans overlook their anxieties about not being addressed. it made african-americans angry. it's why they showed up in large numbers. >> that, plus voter suppression. that was remarkable. you know what? i think there may be an interesting lesson from what you said about bill clinton, which those of us who are progressive have always wanted an alliance among african-americans and lower income whites who, in many cases face the same problems. if you look at the industrialization in the midwest, that is hurting working class whites and african-americans. it would be interesting if, in addition, i think he should be in the african-american communities more also talk

directly to white, working class people and sort of get out there and make that fight and say i'm on your side. the auto bailout was good for african-americans. it was also good for working class whites who counted on these kind of jobs to lift themselves and their families up. he may have potential to do that. >> if it is the challenge of that sort of southern moment, which i think is where we would expect some natural economic alliances to arise. of course, the long history. i say this even though the ugliest voter suppression we saw happened way outside ohio. in fact, we are going to talk about those questions later. thank you so much. i think it's complicated. we are going to continue to see it. the big question is can you walk the walk and talk the talk at the same time. there's going to be a lot of tight rope walking. thank you to e.j. joy is going to be back in the next hour. next, it is the week in voter suppression. i'm telling you, they are at it again. yes.

this week in voter suppression. ♪ [ tylenol bottle ] nyquil what are you doing? [ nyquil bottle ] just reading your label. wait...you relieve nasal congestion?

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we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office. in the run up for the election last year, we spent week after week bringing you a segment we called this week in voter suppression. we told you all about the laws that republican officials at the state level were trying to pass in the name of fighting voter fraud that were really about suppressing the vote, most often within the minority communities. after the elections we said if they tried it again, we would be back. well, they are back. only this time, they are taking aim at a different target, the electoral college. currently, electoral votes are allocated on a winner take all basis. but, if republican national chairman has his way, it will

change the 2016 presidential race. the proposal is for electoral votes to be awarded by congressional district. the states considering the change happen to be states that went to president obama last november but controlled by republican legislatures. states like pennsylvania and wisconsin. with me at the table is civil rights advocate wade henderson, president and ceo of the leadership conference of civil rights and, you know her, barbara, president and executive director of the lawyers committee for civil rights under the law. okay, they are at it again. barbara, the electoral college is the new strategy? >> it's one of their many strategies. at the same time, many states, ohio and north carolina for example, they are trying to introduce new voter id ugly laws. this is really contrary to everything we know that the public feels. the public is number one.

every voter needs to be protected. people are really upset about these voter suppression laws. we also know just this last week in the supreme court, there was an attempt by the rnc to get off from under the order that requires them to stop and not engage in voter intimidation. the court said we agree you need to be held to this order. there's enough evidence that you have issues that we need to hold you to. what do we say? >> it's shocking. on the one hand, it is die bollically genius in that they say the president, himself, on election night said we are going to try to do something about this. we gonna count the votes differently. >> they are so bold. this is an example of you don't like the result, change the rules. here is a president that won 51% of the popular vote. romney won 37%. that settles the question of how the electoral college votes are

decided. in this instance, they have come back with this scream to allocate electoral votes. if, in fact, the election were held under the rules now proposed about the electoral college, president obama would not have won. this is clearly an example of building a case for changing the rules in a way that will alter the outcome of the election even as they are now whining about trying to change the rules to accommodate the pressure that barbara's organization and many others help to generate over time. >> section five is coming before the court. this is the south carolina vote, section five of the voting. it allows changes and others in the southern states that were -- that had lost at one point. how worried are we that the court will overturn section five? >> we should be worried when the

court is looking at a law that was written in blood by so many people who sacrificed their lives. what we need people to really understand is that this court could actually e viz rate an important provision that has been number one. when we sued the state of texas over their redistricting, we sued them over voter id law, we sued the state of south carolina, we sued the state of florida for early voting changes in the covered jurisdictions. the courts stepped forward and said yes, these are wrong laws. these cannot go into effect this time. justice thomas said, without hearing a word, he won't validate section five. >> let me augment your point of section five applying to the

deep south. most americans feel it shouldn't be applied only to the south. actually, section five is app applied to new hampshire, ten cities or counties, michigan. it's applied to alaska, new york, california is covered. these are states outside of the deep south but they do have a common factor. there's a history of past discrimination. there's a current set of practices of discrimination and, in fact, there are safety valves that allow jurisdictions to feel they can meet the test to get out from under section five and asking the justice department to review it. no state that has gone that far to petition to get out from section five has been turned down. the problem is they review things carefully. the states have gone so far to make the challenge have met the test. we are seeing more and more jurisdictions getting out from

under section five. that tells us that the law, and we have seen it in operation, works well. >> it feels like this is the key, right? things like what we are seeing on the new voter suppression effort. things we are seeing on the voting rights act. these are the rules of the game. we get focused on the personalities running for office. right now, this moment, after the election, after the inauguration, after the balls, after the champaign, now we have to focus on protecting. look, the way to deal with the electoral college thing is abolish it. just elect the president. >> thank you, thank you, thank you. that would be a much better process. i think what we need to think about is the fact that the voting rights act, section five stopped, in the last ten plus years, stopped 1,000 diskrim that acts. when people are saying to the

court, hey, this is wrong because you are only targeting these states. you account for 80% of all of our litigation. >> stop cutting up. >> exactly. stop discriminating. if you would stop discriminating. you allow latino voters, black voters, allow asian voters, young voters, elderly voters, people with disabilities. if you would stop discriminating. >> one last point, section two applies nationwide. >> yeah. >> let's understand we are not trying to create a punitive system that is focused only on the south. >> this is the moment to have our eyes folks. thank you to bark bra. wayne is going to come back. the great expectation for women is next. [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit smoking with chantix. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know

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from the moment barack obama knew he would be president, he was mindful of the women who helped elect him. the issues we face, the sacrifices we make and the contributions we offer. on election night, 2008, he noticed an exceptional woman. >> she is a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing. ann nixon cooper is 106 years old. tonight, i think about all she's seen throughout her century in america. the heart ache and the hope. the struggle and the progress. the times we were told that we can't and the people who pressed on with that american creed, yes we can. >> we are now just one hour away from president obama taking the oath of office for his term. at 11:55 eastern, msnbc will bring you special, live coverage. when we come back, we focus on

the president, the first lady and women. joining me will be one of the most powerful advisers. more at the top of the hour. [ male announcer ] no matter what city you're playing tomorrow. [ coughs ] ♪ you can't let a cold keep you up tonight. [ snores ] vicks nyquil. powerful nighttime 6-symptom cold & flu relief.

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i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. you should not start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections,

have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have symptoms such as persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. welcome back. i'm melissa harris-perry in washington, d.c. in less than an hour, president obama will take the oath of office for his second term as president of the united states. he will be sworn in in the blue room. msnbc will bring you special live coverage of the historic moment. now, while everyone is focused on the president's second term, i thought we should also ask, what about the first lady? michelle obama has been quite the force during her husband's

first term. she made childhood obesity a focus. she wasn't afraid to join in on the fun with the joining forces campaign. she and dr. jill biden worked to bring awareness to the opportunities and support that service members and their families need and deserve. she's been her husband's best surrogate in the most important campaigns of all. the ones that got them to the white house, twice. if people have great expectations for president obama in his second term, they are surely expecting great things from the first lady. joining me from outside the white house is senior adviser to the president, valerie jarrett. so nice to see you this morning. >> good morning, melissa, how are you? >> i'm great. let many start by asking about the first lady, then the president. the first lady introduced the 501 c 4. watching her do that made me think, will she play a more

direct role in policy during the second term? >> i think the purpose of the 501 c 4 is to engage and encourage people to get involved in their government. she cares a great deal about it. how wonderful it was and replenishing it was to be out with the american people and talking about her husband and his leadership and their vision for the country. yes, i think she will wont to do that. i think she's going to focus on what she cared about in her first term. you mentioned the work she's done with dr. biden on military families. the let's move initiative. she's mentoring young people particularly young girls. right now, the team is doing a strategic plan. we'll see what comes out of it. the two things i know is she will pick new issues she cares passionately about. move the needle and hopefully

those initiatives will continue four years from now after her husband is no longer in office. >> valerie, you said when you were talking about the first lady finding it regenerative about being back on the campaign trail. getting the opportunity to connect with the people gave a fire in the belly for governing. when we look at the new picture of the president in this second term, there's a sense of energy and enthusiasm. is that what you are seeing from this president going into the second term? >> absolutely. he is as energized as i have ever seen him. a lot of that did come from his ability to get out and connect. it reminds him why he works so hard every day to improve the quality of life for hard working americans who just want a fair shot and a fair shake. he's insisting everybody play by

the same set of rules. he wants to make sure we engage the american people. with them behind him, we can do big things. it's what he's committed to do in his second term. >> speaking of talking to the people. women were an incredibly important part of the coalition that reelected president obama. there's been a lot of criticism about the president not having enough women in the second cabinet. there you are, a very powerful voice who is not intimidated to be in a room full of men advising the president. tell me how you respond to that critique? >> give him a chance to finish rounding out the cabinet. we know, for example, one of the most important domestic policy initiatives is the affordable care about and who is responsible for that? a woman, kathleen sebelius. keep us safe. janet napolitano is head of security. he's always surrounded himself

with women. two chief of staffs have been women. a key part of what makes the white house works. so, he's just beginning to fill out the cabinet. he's announced new people. i think when he finishes, you will see he'll continue to have a diverse cabinet. he thinks he makes better decisions when surrounded by people with different perspectives. women are an important part of that. he was raised bay single mother. he lived with his grandmother. he has a very, very strong wife. so, he understands the value of women. women in america understand that. i think it was much adieu and it's very fine for people to say this is important. but he doesn't need to be told how important women are. >> give me a sense of what will be happening today. tomorrow is the big public event that many americans will tune in to see. what is happening today in terms of the event? >> he'll have the private

ceremony in the blue room, take his official oath of office. have a family lunch then he has an event this evening that he's looking forward to as well. it's more low key than tomorrow will be. i think he's easing into it. believe me, taking the oath of office is something he's so humbled and so proud the american people put their trust in him for a second term. it will be a very moving moment for him. >> thank you for joining me. >> my pleasure. >> really, i hate to do this, but nerdland told me, the producers that they would be angry if i didn't say please tell the first lady we love the bangs. >> don't you love the bangs? they are perfect. she's enjoying them. i'm glad you like them. >> we love them in nerdland. enjoy the swearing in ceremony. >> thank you. have a great day. >> thank you. on to a somewhat more conventional topic for a political news show than the first lady's bangs, she's not

the only one people are looking to for great things. the women of the 113th congress have had one hell of a long to-do list this year. how much of it can they get done? joining me is democratic congresswoman of california. it's great to have you in person. >> finally able to sit next to you and talk to you. it's great. >> congress 112 was frustrating. what are you looking toward in the 113? record number of women. will you all be able to get more done? >> let's hope so. women at the table make a big difference. look at leader pelosi when she was speaker. look what got through the house of representatives in her leadership. she could count. that makes a huge difference. i don't think we should think we have arrived. we are still less than 20% of the congress. the strides that we made in the senate, 3% gain. in the house, we gained two

seats. so, it's not -- this is not the time to become complacent. >> it's progress but in certain ways point out how far we have to go that we are celebrating 20 women senators, for example. >> exactly. >> one of the things the first lady has taken on in the first term and dr. biden was the issue of service families. i think sometimes we think of service member families as the man being the soldier and the wife and kids at home. that has changed dramatically. it's increasingly women on the battlefields. what are they facing? >> 20% of new recruits are women. it's important to recognize. they are becoming important component of service members. they are facing incredible odds. military sexual trauma is an issue i focus in on. 19,000 rapes in the military a year. more likely to be a victim of violence from fellow service member than from the enemy.

but the department of defense and all the services have done little except a lot of lip service in terms of addressing this issue. >> is the second term a time we might see it? we have been hearing critique of the cabinet but weather the secretary of defense is a man or woman, as secretary of defense, we want that person addressing these questions. will we see a stronger motivation to address the questions of military sexual assault in the second term? >> i certainly hope so. we are having a hearing in congress this week where more than 41 young recruits, new trainees were sexually assaulted or harassed by 19 military training instructors. it wasn't because women came forward and talked about it. only one reported it. there's a fear of reporting it. if you report it, your career is over. >> is there something we can learn from sort of the culture of the military which is at this

moment, managing poorly in some ways the influx of new women service members and what's going on in the u.s. house of representatives and the u.s. senate which are still dominated by a male culture that will now have to cope with an influx of new, talented women. >> i think what we need to recognize is that these men have to be educated. i think that the military service, the generals, they come to the capital and they say oh, we have zero tolerance and go back and do nothing. lip service isn't good enough anymore. whether it's violence against women and the fact it wasn't preauthorized or trying to take family planning away when it was really created by republicans at one point. we have to get down to some real basics about respecting women. >> we can see it in policy. you respect women when you respect the constitutional right to policy.

>> exactly. >> thank you so much for joining me this morning. again, it's lovely to have you hear at the table. up next, she was the poet at the president's first inauguration. she's assessing the presidents pros in the first term. elizabeth alexander is here, next. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify.

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praise song for struggle.

praise song for the day. praise song for every hand lettered sign, the figuring it out at kitchen tables. >> that was prize winning poet and professor, elizabeth alexander reciting her poem which she composed for the first inauguration for president obama. she was the first poet to read at an inauguration. when she was 1-year-old, she witnessed history when her parents brought her to the other side of the washington mall to hear reverend martin luther king jr. deliver his "i have a dream" speech. to join me to reflect on it is elizabeth alexander, professor of african-american studies at yale university. it's lovely to have you hear. >> it's great to be with you. >> we have been talking politics. i feel like one of the things

the president suggested at the first inauguration was to bring a certain arts and cultural insensitivity and expression to his presidency. as you have watched the first term, what has it felt like to you as it occur snd. >> it's been thrilling. the inauguration was a template. different poetry, aretha franklin. the diversity of forms in which american excellence expresses itself. we have seen the wonderful concerts they have done at the white house. the paul simon singing stevie wonder songs, tony bennett singing stevie wonder. poetry, all these programs televised for everyone to see. the best kind of family viewing saying families should gather together and receive the arts as a gift, if you will. we have seen the arts initiative that recognizes in schools that excellence can be tied to

creative works. it's not just making artists, it's letting people understand how to be creative problem solvers. >> so much education reform has been about high stakes testing on a narrow set of skills to intervene and say the arts and the creativity and music and dance are part of what makes us fully human and american. >> the first lady said, in words similar to yours, the arts and humanities are what makes us fully human. it's how we understand ourselves as human beings. it's a way that especially for young people we still ourselves and contemplate in front of a work of art when listening to a poem. we can't rush past. the arts emphasize process. it's not just where we end up that we have to work and think outside of the box to get there. >> it brings me to wanting to talk about the art the obama's brought into the white house. if we are meant to be still and

reflect on it, let's reflect. one is the bust of martin luther king jr. that is there in the oval office. tell us about that. >> that is made by the artist charles alston, my great uncle. when obama came into office, a few days later, he removed winston churchhill and brought in this one. he has lincoln and king. on this weekend, in particular, that resonance is just perfect. >> there's another king moment in terms of art. the "i am a man" part of the memphis sanitation workers strike when dr. king was assassinated. talk to me about that piece. >> it's a text painting by an artist who works with just like that sign that we know so well from the iconic protests. he transforms that into art recognizing that we look at language as a visual thing as

well when we take in art. the past is refigured in the present moment. we bring forward the king moment. more importantly, as you mentioned, the memphis sanitation workers strike moment thinking of how we got to where we are. >> it says labor and race and identity. >> yes, it does. >> it's linked to king. it's clearly male, i am a man, it's also, i am human. >> that's right. it's under lined. i am a man. there is that emphasis of what it means to stand tall and be recognized from within and saying i want to be recognized in that way. >> there's a truism that we campaign in poetry and govern many pros. how much of a poet has the president managed to be and how much might you imagine to be a poet into the second term? >> i think, certainly, the president would be the first one to say he is not a poet because he has tremendous respect for the craft and what it takes to

actually make those things. i think what he has recognized is he has tremendous gifts with language and that language is how we communicate to each other. it's how human beings reach across the void. language is the tool he has. one of the big tools he has. it's one of the reasons we understand dr. king all these years later in the way we do because of his powerful gift with spoken and written language. it's something that obama has been respectful and mindful of. >> it's amazing the dream speech can still move you. you can know it by heart and it still moves you. >> up next, the widow of med gar everies and the key spoker at tomorrow's inauguration. the music that is taking us to break is yo yo ma in a string quartet performing simple gifts at the president's first inauguration. [ female announcer ] want younger looking eyes that say wow

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the serum instantly thickens the look of lashes. see wow!... eyes in just one week with olay. meggar evers fought for this world in world war ii. having been rejected by the university of mississippi's law school on the basis of his race, he became the naacps first field secretary in the state at the age of 29. boycotts against businesses that chose to segregate and fought for our civil right, the right to have equal access to the vote. at the age of 37, he was assassinated in the driveway outside of his own home. inside the house, 50 years ago this june was his wife, myrlie

evers and their three small children. she went on to become chairwoman of the naacp. her leadership rescued the organization from a troubled period in history. on this monday, she will become the first layperson and first woman to deliver the invocation at a presidential inauguration. i am beyond honored to be joined by the residents at alcorn state university, myrlie evers. it's so nice to have you here. >> thank you. >> immaterialed to ask you about as we think about the president's great expectations, he called himself in the first campaign part of the joshua generation saying it was about going into the space that had been cleared largely by the moses generation, the generation represented by medgar evers and others. as you look at both the president and all those in the

joshua generation, how do you think we are doing? >> surprisingly quite well. i say surprisingly because i detected some question about how my generation had moved things forward. hearing young people say we will never do that again. we have it made. that one particular thing i found disturbing, however things have changed. i think both my generation has begun to share our knowledge and not become offended by younger generations. the younger generation inspired us with new ways of looking at the world today. we live in a highly technical society, messages get back and forth among groups and others, individuals so very, very quickly. it's always a time of change.

i believe that president obama certainly exemplifies that change. i have also observed his seasoning, if you will over the four years. i'm very excited about what this second term would bring, not only for him, but for america and the world because we do impact extremely well what happens in the world today. >> i heard your exquisite interview with al sharpton. you talked about this invocation that you will deliver tomorrow and the difficulty of capturing, i think the language you used was all of the things you feel about your country. i sometimes wonder if that is part of the great legacy of the civil rights movement to the joshua generation is to both love and offer critique of our

nation. i wanted to listen for a moment to the words of medgar evers himself. let's listen for a moment. >> fine. >> for many of us who have gone overseas and fought for this country and fought for mississippi, we fought for alabama, we fought for north carolina, we fought for illinois, and we fought for every state in this union. >> there he is telling us, we fought for every state in in union. we fought for mississippi. now it's time to cash that check that's come back unpaid as dr. king talked about it. >> you know, when the march on washington took place, i was scheduled to be there and be a speaker. 50 years later, i didn't make it. 50 years later, here we are. i have lived all these years so much by medgar's standards and what he set not only for his people, but for america.

it's a time of awakening now, true awakening about what is and what was remembering people like medgar evers and their vision for this country and for this nation. moving it forward. i find myself kind of caught up in this time warp of 50 years ago when i was so angry, so bitter, so vengeful having no hope, realizing that i had to do what he said to move past the hatred, we are the children and spread the information. today it's different. i had no idea i would be asked to participate in this inauguration and the way that i am but i'm so pleased to say and i think it's true with so many other people, we have moved past the hatred. we realize we must be creative

and we must be able to forgive because in not doing so, we damage ourselves and we are unable to move forward. so, i'm all about progress. i'm all about standing up for what one believes in. i am for looking at the world and saying here we are, what are we going do about this. >> mr. evers, i can't hear you talk about forgiveness without thinking in this moment about newtown. about the anger, the agony of the parents and the anger of all of us who have lost those children in our nation but also those of us who live in urban communities where we are victimized by gun violence on a regular basis. you don't have to talk about gun control policy one way or the other, what you want to see the president do, but i want to figure out how do we move forward in making creative, meaningful policy that doesn't just come out of a place of hate

and anger an expression of that. >> i think you said it. how do we make policy that is going to be beneficial? we have many players in all of this. it takes time to move past the anger and the hatred. we are saddened but i think basically, americans want a safe home, a safe place for all of us who will be looking in terms of emotionally what happens but makes us the way we are in terms of violence. having this dialogue, not only in washington, d.c., and other state houses and whatnot, not only on campuses but throughout our homes, our organizations. it is imperative that we address this and realize that guns are not the solution. i certainly know that as a fact. >> absolutely.

mr. evers, stay with us. we are going to add a few more voices to the table partly because you are here we want to reflect on dr. king, but not just dr. king, but the legacy of all of the names we have forgotten even as we honor dr. king when we come back. look what mommy is having. mommy's having a french fry. yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle. with three of your daily vegetable servings i've always kept my eye on her... but with so much health care noise, i didn't always watch out for myself. with unitedhealthcare, i get personalized information and rewards for addressing my health risks. but she's still going to give me a heart attack. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

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women who helped make the man into a president. like president obama, so, too, was dr. king surrounded by women who helped make the man into a movement. women like ella baker. women like diane nash. women like fanny lou. koretta scott king. back with me, elizabeth alexander, myrlie evers. i hate the king memorial and at the same time love it. he emerged from a movement. what happens when we forget the other names? >> you know, he was a rock. >> hmm. >> his name still says that. regardless of whether we like the statue or not. i have a little criticism about the media. >> mm-hmm. >> the media decided that dr.

king was the only person of importance in the movement. when they -- when he was killed, the media asked well who will your leader be? my question was why not embrace all the others that gave so much that did so much and include them in this? dr. king said, and i heard him say this on occasion, i am not in this alone. you have me here. i follow you. >> yes. >> we are all leaders. unfortunately, innocence, it's been focused on one man. i'm delighted to see the light spread around to others who have been involved. >> there's something in the greater society that is designed to kind of subvert movements on focusing on one person. all you can do is focus on that person. make them marginalized.

or god forbid, eliminate that person and crush the entire movement. i think that was a part of it. the media played into that. >> that's true. one of the shortcomings of the history of the movement is we failed to recognize the women who were the backbone of the effort in many different stages of the activity. we often talk of rosa parks like she stood up out of frustration. rosa parks was the tip of a sphere that had been used and prepared to challenge the segregation of the time. >> yeah. >> i think about rosa parks and dr. dorothy who led the leadership for 16 years as our chair. i think of myrlie evers-williams. if one person understands the power of the vote, it's myrlie evers. she became the naacp chairperson by a one-vote margin and led the

organization to their restoration. had she not be there, it would be a different organization today. >> thank you. >> it's how we think of this moment for president obama. in many ways, the re-election, the narrative i heard, the first election was about president obama. the second election was about all the people who they attempted to suppress their voting. so that return was as much about us, right, about them, about the community as it was about president obama himself. >> certainly in the first campaign you heard president obama saying over and over again, it's not about me, it's about us. reinforcing this idea that i think is encompassed in the phrase of the long civil rights movement. people don't pop out of nowhere. that work, there's the bedrock work that gets us to the shining moments and sometimes these shining messengers, if you will, who have a particular gift and appear at the convergence at a cross road and can help us move

forward. symbols do bear power. symbolic figures enable us to co-ales. >> it's interesting. it's easier to think about one or two symbols than the hard work. think about the montgomery busboys. they were women, domestic women working in homes of white families having to walk all of those miles. >> for a year. >> exactly. >> i mean i always -- it's a disservice to how we teach the civil rights movement. we don't teach the long one. it started in '54 and wrapped it up. you think, oh it takes ten years to change the world. an entire city for a year. >> for a year. >> yeah. >> or being a little girl. six of them are girl who is had to walk. it's not just walking through a crowd. it's walking through a crowd of screaming, angry people. >> you know, there are so many

women that we will never know their names. i'm reminded now of a woman who would come to the naacp office every saturday afternoon, we'll never know her name. she was come in and she would put her hand in her dress, and she said mrs. evers, i don't have much to give today, but i want to leave this dollar. this wet handkerchief with a few dollar bills in it that she worked so hard for in homes of others who did not respect her, did not care for her. some way, we have to remember that those women, without names existed. they filled the fight for justice and equality as well. today, as we move forward in paying attention to others who served who are less known i think it sends a message to our educational system.

>> i hope you are right. i hope you are right. >> it moved from the bottom up and all those names. we say this morning thank you to the young rosa parks and those who kept alive the legacy of dr. king. ella baker said strong people don't need strong leaders. people who endured beatings to bring the vote. elizabeth medford who walked the gauntlet, thank you. mr. myrlie evers-williams, joy reid. just a few final thoughts as we count down to the swearing in of president barack obama, a few moments away. ♪ [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy

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from president barack obama being sworn in for his second term as president of the united states. shortly before noon eastern, he will take the oath administered by chief justice john roberts in the blue room. the president is shouldering great expectations as he begins his second term. we do not and cannot know all we will face in the next four years but we stand on martin luther king jr.'s promise that we can craft a better tomorrow. we must peer harder into the unknowable future to try to see a beloved community that is outli outlined there. no one promised us a crystal stair but it is time to keep climbing. that is it for me today. after the break, nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director chuck todd will anchor the special coverage of the swearing in of president barack obama. my doctor told me calcium

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